


The Necessity of Sleep

by FiresFromOurHearts



Series: The Overworked Hikaku Chronicles [6]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Self-Care, Exhaustion, Family, Founding of Konoha, Gen, Hikaku cares so much for his family, Hikaku gets his nap, Home, Humor, Missions Gone Wrong, Near Death Experiences, Poison, Sometimes that's all you need to get you home, Warring States Period (Naruto), and the fight to get there, but hey, it might be a collapse, it's a little bit forced, listen, or Hikaku realises he fucked up, that's still sleep right, well that and a friend to help you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:21:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28437534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiresFromOurHearts/pseuds/FiresFromOurHearts
Summary: Hikaku makes a mistake and now he must fight poison, blood less, and enemies in order to get home alive.
Relationships: Uchiha Hikaku & Original Senju Character(s), Uchiha Hikaku & Uchiha Madara
Series: The Overworked Hikaku Chronicles [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2070147
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36
Collections: Genuary 2021





	The Necessity of Sleep

Hikaku maybe makes a mistake. It’s not-

The worst part is he doesn’t notice. He isn’t aware of it. It’s just all… normal, for him. It’s not a small mistake, over in seconds, or one that occurs accidentally it’s… big. It’s a big mistake.

It’s what might see him dead, in the end. What might kill him even when the war itself failed.

The problem with this mistake is that it started at the top of a slope, a really slippery slope. And, step by step, Hikaku slid down and stopped noticing as he gained speed and everything just got worse. Soon enough, he was far too focussed on what he’d been dealing with to really notice, and now-

Now he’s paying for it.

If his mistake doesn’t kill him, he might kill himself for it. He _knows_ his limits. Knows how they stretch tight against him, wrap chains around his body, how they drag him down. It’s just… He’d gotten lax, perhaps, without the constant fighting and without the war. Not let himself go, he’s fit and strong and still trains, but he’d let some things go.

The village—Konoha, it’s been named now—is safe, that much is true. Oh, it’s a minefield to walk politically and every conversation feels tense half the time. But it’s safe from any physical attacks. Hikaku can let go of his guard, a little, in Konoha.

And he’d taken that to mean he could be a little less on guard. Sleep a little less. Work on the paperwork a little bit more. And there’s always paperwork. The others have more than their fair share too, and so Hikaku only sees them when he’s handing in one file or another, or during meals when they all try to attend them.

Hikaku knows he’s juggling a lot. He knows it. He’s running all the Clan Head and Heir duties in the background, checking over the majority of the Uchiha Clan documents, acting as liaison between the Uchiha Clan and the rest of the village, and frequently acting as go-between for the majority of the ninjas and the leading four. So—a lot, to say the least. And he thought he was handling it! The paperwork was being completed in time and he still had time for food, more often than not. He just… cut down on his sleep, a little.

It turns out that Hikaku’s been overworking himself, just a little. And that’s… That’s bad, when you’re an active ninja. And despite the paperwork that often shackles him to his desk, he is an active ninja. He takes missions. Not super frequently, but still enough to have the paperwork grow when he’s gone. Though it does seem to do that even when he sleeps, so he’s not too certain the mission has any impact on it whatsoever.

Apparently, it’s hard to tell when you’re overworking yourself when you’re so used to sleepless nights and endless amounts of work.

In the end, Hikaku only realises on a mission. It’s not-

It’s not a hard mission. There’s a reason only Hikaku is on it. It’s a simple courier mission, though the mission information did mention that there might be a few low-level ninjas or bandits after it. That’s true enough, as Hikaku had found out soon enough, and it hadn’t really caused any issue for him.

He’s fit and he’s strong, and it turns out he’s exhausted enough to fall asleep during a mission rather than simply resting. The people after the item, a group made of low-level ninjas and bandits, come upon him in the darkness. Hikaku’s not helpless, and he presses on the attack, coating the forest floor with blood.

Exhaustion touches more than just the mind and body—it effects chakra too. And, without Hikaku realising, his chakra has waned. Now, without backup and body teetering on the edge of a breakdown, Hikaku has to somehow fight his way out of here and survive.

Survive with almost no chakra and sleep tugging at him with every step.

But he’s an Uchiha and fire is in his blood and he sets the world around him alight. The bandits are consumed quickly, even as Hikaku’s Sharingan spin rapidly before slowing down. Too much chakra, too little time. He doesn’t want to crash anywhere nearby. He needs to get to Konoha, needs to get back home.

The ninjas, though, aren’t taken out by a simple fire ninjutsu and they come at Hikaku together. The only bright side is that they clearly haven’t worked together often, getting in each other’s way and pulling up halfway through an attack as someone gets in the way. The downside is that they’re not willing to fall apart if Hikaku sows some chaos with words.

A blade rips along his arm, slicing easily, and Hikaku hisses. His blood drips down his arm, pooling below him on the forest floor. It’s not a great cut. Could be way worse. But it’s not good.

His vision flickers black and he stumbles and he’s almost certain it’s not from poison or anything. It’s exhaustion, plain and simple. It’s his own fault. If he is to die here, and he won’t—he _won’t_ —then it’ll be from something so dumb he should’ve stopped himself.

If he survives this—and he will, he has to, there’s no other option—then he’s never going to exhaust himself like this. He’ll sleep before missions and make sure he’s prepared before leaving Konoha.

He flares his chakra, fractures a genjutsu, and sweeps out with a chakra-infused kick that knocks one ninja to the floor. Throwing himself forward, he tucks into a roll, and slits their throat without another thought. It feels like the world is beginning to spin now and Hikaku is shoved forward as something strikes against his back. His armour presses itself against his skin and he’s bound to have bruises, but it doesn’t feel like his skin’s opened up or anything.

Rising, Hikaku sends a wave of fire outward and leaps up, leaps _away_. He’s not going to win any fight as he is, not when he’s heavily outnumbered and injured. But Hikaku is tricky. Even exhausted and half-dead and more than a little sleep deprived, he can lay traps and tricks like the best of them. He’s an _Uchiha_. They specialise in illusions and hidden tricks—which is what traps are, in the end.

The ninjas follow him, loud in the forest where Hikaku slips through the trees. The branches welcome him, dipping beneath his weight but never creaking or groaning. The leaves around him whisper as the ninjas press closer, and Hikaku wraps a torn piece of fabric around his arm. It’ll be enough to keep the blood in his body for the most part, which is all he can really hope for at this point.

He spirals around, cutting a path that splits the ninjas away from each other. He doesn’t create a clone, a solid one would take too much chakra and he’s almost wobbling as it is, but that’s okay. He lays down traps and sprinkles things to waste time and easily layers genjutsus that will hopefully lead to his followers falling out of a tree and breaking their legs. Breaking their necks, if he’s lucky.

Considering his current luck, he doubts that is going to work at all.

At least one ninja is taken down by his traps, and—when he passes—he cuts their throat silently. Blood is splattered against his uniform. Some of it has dried, leaving dark red patches, and other bits are wet and warm, rapidly cooling against his skin. The uniform is stiff, where the blood has dried, and uncomfortable even where the blood hasn’t yet dried—perhaps especially then.

Much of it isn’t Hikaku’s. Some of it is. More than he’d hoped is his. It’s not good.

In a lurch, his balance seems to disappear from him and he drops, landing in a crouch on a large tree branch. The world is spinning around him and he closes his eyes against it. His chakra, while not overly there, is holding steady and he hasn’t quite hit chakra exhaustion. The adrenaline running through his veins should be keeping most of the exhaustion and sleep deprivation at bay. It doesn’t make any sense.

Opening one eye, he carefully unwinds the bandage from his arm. Already, there are green-black bands snaking across his arm. Poison. Poison that’s moving swiftly, already sending him staggering and taking him down. That’s… not good.

It’s pretty far from good, to be honest.

He rewraps his arm, securing the bandage carefully, before dropping to the forest floor. It’s not safe to be in the trees, not with how dizzy and unbalanced he is, but hopefully he can manage on the ground. The real question is whether he should try to have one last stand or whether he should run and hope he makes it back to Konoha.

Considering his current state, he doesn’t know if he could outrun them. But he also doesn’t know if he could fight and win against them. And Hikaku isn’t about making one last stand. He’s about getting home. That’s a win, more than anything else.

The Uchiha Clan teachings whisper in his ear: ‘family first’.

Home then. Home and hope like hell he holds on for that long.

Without wasting another second, Hikaku takes off. He forces himself to stick to a rather slow pace, knowing better to push himself especially considering his current status. But. _Fuck_.

He’s maybe an hour from Konoha at his current speed when his vision leaves him. He can still hear. Can still feel. Can still smell. And he assumes he can still taste. But Hikaku is an Uchiha. Not being able to see is awful, though the clan has taught everyone how to fight blindly. He swallows his fear, his worry, his panic, and forces himself to keep stumbling forward.

The run is no longer silent. It’s loud and cumbersome and Hikaku is definitely hitting everything he can. There’s bound to be bruises and scratches from the plants rather than the fight, but he pushes forward anyway. Home lies ahead and Hikaku _must_ get there. Even if he can’t see. Even if he isn’t certain he’s going in the right direction. He has to hope.

A hand wraps itself around his arm, and Hikaku jerks himself sideways. He bounces off a tree, jarring his shoulder, but he takes the momentum and twists, settling into a defensive stance. “Easy,” someone says, voice soft and quiet. This is a ninja, but that much has been obvious from the beginning. “I’m a friend. From Konoha.”

Konoha’s name is known. They’re a village made of ninjas, an impossible thing, of course they’re known. This isn’t certain of safety or anything.

He might be half-dead and exhausted and poisoned and possibly-dying, but Hikaku has held a little bit in reserve. The poison took his sense of sight from him but he still has his eyes. More importantly, he has the Sharingan and blindness rarely impacts the Sharingan itself. He presses chakra into his eyes.

It burns. Or maybe he burns. Something burns. An ache pulses in his head, migraine battling at his defences, and every single wound seems to hurt like it doesn’t know which is the worst. Hikaku opens his eyes.

His vision has a red tinge, which he’d last had a few years ago after he forced himself to fight to the brink of death in order to survive one war battle. Still, even with the red tinge, Hikaku finds himself staring at someone he vaguely knows.

They’re familiar. He might not know their name, but he knows their face. A Senju. Someone who frequently takes messages and is often quick to laugh, quick to smile, and willing to reach out a hand to help.

Hikaku needs that help.

“Enemies on my tail,” Hikaku reports, pulling himself together. “I was heading for Konoha.”

“Alright,” the Senju says, voice still soft and Hikaku may or may not be swaying. He’s not sure. He hasn’t been sure for a while actually. “I can deal with that. Can you give me a rundown of your injuries?”

Hikaku does not laugh. He swallows the harsh bark down, though he definitely wants to. It’s such an absurd question. What injuries doesn’t he have?

“Cut to my arm,” he says, words slow and thick and syrup-like on his tongue. Fuck, he’s crashing. He can’t do that yet. “Poisoned. Bruises. Scratches. Not sure.” The Senju lifts their head and Hikaku’s vision twists and he remembers. “Chakra exhaustion. Normal exhaustion.”

The Senju’s eyes are very wide. Are people’s eyes normally that wide? For the Hyūga maybe, with their weird kekkei genkai. But the Uchiha don’t have that wide eyes and they have the Sharingan. Should they have wider eyes?

“Right,” the Senju says and they’re suddenly very close and right in Hikaku’s face. He doesn’t flinch. “We need to get you home. A patrol is taking care your followers. Can you follow me home?”

Can he? Probably not.

“Chakra exhaustion,” he says. Hopefully. At the very least, the words attempt to leave his mouth. They might even be successful. He wishes them luck on their endeavour. Wait. Speaking. That. “Blind. Chakra exhaustion. Sharingan. Chakra seeing.”

There. Nailed it.

“You can only see with your Sharingan and you’re near chakra exhaustion?” The Senju asks and Hikaku nods which. Bad idea. Really, really bad idea. The world’s spinning again and he might be about to throw up. The aim is to not do that, so he closes his eyes and tries to keep his head from falling off his neck. It feels like it might be trying to do that. Hikaku would love it if it could stop doing that.

The Senju crouches in front of him. “On my back,” they urge. “It might be the only way you’ll get home today.”

It’s a good point. Hikaku is even lucid enough to be aware of that. He’s also aware enough to know that he’s in danger and this Senju is kind of unknown and he really doesn’t want to kill them. That seems like bad… manners! It seems like bad manners to kill someone trying to help you.

“Death,” Hikaku announces. “Lead. I follow.”

“Fuck, right. Okay. Come on, Hikaku-sama. Stay with me now.”

“Not going,” Hikaku says. The words feel heavy on his tongue. Or maybe his tongue feels heavy? Numb. His tongue feels numb. “Anywhere!” He adds. That seems important.

The Senju’s face is strangely creased. They really shouldn’t look like that. Hikaku has a vague feeling that things should be different. But he can’t remember why.

He follows the Senju. Stumbling and limbs feeling very strange and everything’s wonky and spinning, but he follows. It’s important though he’s not sure why. Something to do with the Uchiha? And family! Family was definitely involved.

“We’re almost there,” the Senju says and their words sound like they’re coming from the other end of a very long tunnel. He has a vague feeling they’ve been speaking the entire time. But everything’s spinning so much he can’t hear anything. Or maybe he can’t hear anything and so everything’s spinning?

Then, up ahead, Konoha’s gates emerge through the trees. Against all the odds, Hikaku does not fall on his face when he reaches them, but he’s definitely considering it. A nice nap on the dirt sounds glorious right about now. But then dirt. And also… there was something else.

A hand brushes against his bandaged arm, and Hikaku recoils, cradling his arm against him and drawing his sword. His Sharingan flickers and disappears. His chakra is barely there in his chest, and all Hikaku can feel is panic clawing his skin. If he’s blind, if he’s dead, if if if if-

“Hikaku.” That voice! “Stand down. Blade on the ground. You’re safe.” With the Clan Head speaking, Hikaku can hardly do anything else. This much has been trained into him from birth. If Madara is here, then surely everything will be alright. He places his sword on the ground and finds himself sitting on the ground. Did he fall?

“Slide the blade across the ground.” Hikaku does so, the blade scraping against the dirt. His heartbeat sounds very loud. Can anyone else hear it?

“I’m approaching you. You’re safe. I’ll protect you. Can you understand that?”

Safety. Madara. Family.

“I need an answer Hikaku.”

Right. That’s him. “Yes,” he says. The word sounds like a grunt in his ears. Did his tongue fail him? He can’t feel his tongue. Does he even have a tongue?

Hands. Against his back. But it’s Madara. Chakra surrounds him, safe and comforting and Hikaku lets go.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy (early) New Year! Very sorry to drop something that's a little bit angsty and sad on you. But, you wanted Hikaku to have a nap right? It's a little bit forced, a little bit of a coma, but surely that counts.
> 
> This is the beginning of the second arc of this series (the first just being humour), where I get ready to shove all the self-care into your faces and Hikaku gets to have all the nice things. Things get better. This is just the catalyst that leads to things getting better.
> 
> Anyway, despite the near-death, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Practise those self-care things like drinking water, eating food, sleeping enough (or preparing to get enough sleep in the upcoming day), and stretching if you've been sitting down for a while. The next fic will include the Uchiha bros talking as Hikaku continues to sleep. I promise the ending to this series is something good.


End file.
